Macomb County, Michigan

What hazards hit Macomb County most?

The most frequent records are severe thunderstorm wind events: 443 since 1960. 48% of its severe thunderstorm wind events since 1960 fell in June and July. The rank column places the county among Michigan's counties by days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land over each hazard's complete period.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database (county and forecast-zone records attributed to the county; a zone record shows its own totals on each county it covers). Days: dates with at least one record of the hazard in the county. Ranks: days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer), since 1950 for tornadoes, 1955 for hail and thunderstorm wind, 1996 for the rest.

How many tornadoes has Macomb County had?

NOAA records 22 tornadoes in Macomb County from 1964 to 2025, the strongest rated F4, with 12 deaths and 240 injuries recorded in the county. That is 10th of 83 Michigan counties by days with tornadoes per 1,000 square miles since 1950. A tornado that crossed a county line is counted in each county it touched, with the length of its path inside the county.

Counted as whole tornadoes rather than county records, the Storm Prediction Center's database holds 23 tornadoes whose track touched Macomb County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 22: they file a crossing tornado once per county segment, and the two databases differ on some tracks); along their whole tracks they killed 12 people.

Map of the strongest tornado tracks in Michigan.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, tornado records by county (path length in the county, maximum width); ratings as published: F scale before February 1, 2007, EF scale after. Whole-track figures: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database (1950-2025). SPC severe weather database.

When was the last damaging storm in Macomb County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the March 13, 2026 high wind ($350,000 in damage in 2025 dollars).

An intense low-pressure system tracking through the northern Great Lakes brought damaging winds of 50 to 71 mph to much of southeast Michigan. The strongest gusts were concentrated along and south of the M-59 corridor, where numerous trees and power lines were downed across the Detroit Metro area. Both Detroit City Airport and Ann Arbor Airport recorded peak gusts of 71 mph during the height of the storm. The most intense winds occurred in the afternoon following the passage of a strong cold front, leaving around 200,000 DTE Energy customers without power at the peak of the event. Tragically, the storm claimed the life of a Huntington Woods public works employee, who was struck by a falling tree limb while working to clear a roadway during the evening hours.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1320189)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database; every record of 2025-2026 is listed, earlier ones when they caused deaths, injuries or $250,000 of damage (2025 dollars), and every tornado.

The deadliest and costliest records

A damage figure marked "step" is a record from before 1993: NOAA then filed damage by category, and the figure is the category as entered, in the dollars of that year, not an estimate of the loss.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths and injuries direct and indirect; damage is property plus crops as estimated by the National Weather Service, converted to 2025 dollars.

Is it getting more frequent?

Records per decade for Macomb County's most frequent hazards. Counts rose everywhere after 1996, when NOAA began recording every event type, so compare decades within a hazard's complete period only (the shaded cells come before it).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records per calendar decade; zone records from the CZ_TYPE field (Z).

What time of year?

48% of its severe thunderstorm wind events since 1960 fell in June and July. The two busiest months are in violet.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began.

Federal disaster declarations for Macomb County

FEMA's register lists 18 declarations that include Macomb County: 12 major disasters, 6 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for flood (6) and severe storm (5).

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), declarations through October 2, 2026; one declaration is counted once however many areas it names. OpenFEMA dataset page.

How many floods has Macomb County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 71 flood or flash flood records for Macomb County from 1996 to 2025, on 58 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Macomb County ranks 252nd of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $9.0 million on 1,437 claims filed in Macomb County; the most in one year was 515 in 1986. Claims count insured losses only: uninsured flood damage is not in this file.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims, as of September 8, 2026; claims by year of loss, payments in the dollars of the year paid. OpenFEMA dataset page.

FEMA's modeled risk for Macomb County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Macomb County Relatively High overall, with an expected annual loss of $268 million. These are FEMA's model estimates of future loss from 18 hazards, not a count of what happened; they can differ from the record above.

Source: FEMA National Risk Index, county table, December 2025 release. FEMA's National Risk Index map.

Counties that share a border with Macomb County

1. Oakland County 1,239
2. Wayne County 1,138
3. Macomb County 894
4. St. Clair County 591
5. Lapeer County 532

Source: U.S. Census Bureau county adjacency file; NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1950. The Census Bureau's adjacency file.

Next

• Tornadoes in MichiganEvery Michigan tornado since 1950 and the counties with the most per square mile
• Severe thunderstorm wind in MichiganThe state's severe thunderstorm wind events, by county, year and month
• The Michigan recordEvery hazard in the state, its deadliest events and its federal declarations
• FEMA's risk rating for each hazard in Macomb CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Macomb County's FEMA declarations (CSV)18 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis